Can we go now?

Digging out the drive
Originally uploaded by Dr SpaceBunny

Although our early flight was cancelled, due to Reagan National still not being open due to the snow, we were able to get on a later flight and arrive in snow ravaged Virginia just after 1300. The Metro was not running overground but luckily the taxis were still driving and our driver was willing to drop us off right outside our house. Unfortunately the drive was under eighteen inches of snow so we had to trudge to the house to get the shovels to dig a path for the luggage. After a swift cup of tea we dug out the rest of the drive so we could get the car out and the removals van could pick up our shipping and then we got on with sorting out the house. In the house we had to sort out what we wanted: to take with us to the UK, shipping to the UK, to give away and finally what to throw away. Finally that evening we moved into a hotel for our remaining time in the US.

We then had the joy of cleaning the house which was made awkward by the fact all the furniture and our belongings were still in place because the packers were not able to pick up our belongings or the furniture pack because of the snowy conditions. Plus we had to negotiate the snow packed roads to and from the house apart from Wednesday morning due to a snow storm which paralysed the region, in fact that morning half of the snow clearing equipment had broken down and the remainder had been advised to to pull to the side of the road for their own safety. That didn't stop us getting out to the house in the afternoon using our superior British driving skills. Ultimately I was quite annoyed with the embassy as we made a huge effort to sort out the house despite the weather conditions and when they eventually got back to work they weren't willing to be at the house after our departure to ensure the shipping and furniture pack was undertaken so my work colleagues were kind enough to do this for us.

On Friday we took one last trip to the house to put out the recycling and rubbish as well as a couple of last minute jobs and then dropped Helen at the hotel so I could take our car to work for my replacement and finish off a few last minute things. Unfortunately by the time I arrived my computer account had been de-authorised so I could only complete the paperwork for the car and shipping, receive some gifts from the office and say goodbye. I then grabbed a taxi back to the hotel where Helen and I loaded our bags into a bigger taxi which whisked us away to the airport where we had a stiff drink and dinner before jetting off to the UK!

Snowpocalypse

A Great Lake
Originally uploaded by d_j_critchley

First of all I'd like to apologise for the hyperbole of this and the previous post titles but it is aimed, toungue in cheek, at the US media. Don't get me wrong, the snow is bad, the south is not used to this kind of weather but the entire DC region came to a standstill for three days alll because of a foot or so of snow. Plus we have been busy getting ready to leave the USA so I've not had much time to get round to writing up the blog.

OK, back to Friday ... we got onboard the plane to Chicago only to be told that we were to be subject to a four hour delay due to low visibility at Chicago O'Hare. Fortunately the delay was reduced and we only just had time to finish watching a film on my laptop before we took off. When we arrived in Chicago there had been a light dusting of snow and it was bitterly cold so we hopped on the shuttle to the hotel. Unfortunatley we arrived too late to get any food from the restaurant so we had to make do with microwave pizza for dinner.

The next day we had a lazy morning in the suite watching England v Wales and then caught the L train downtown to go to the Art Institute where we saw American Gothic and Nighthawks amongst others. Afterwards we walked through the bitterly cold conditions down to Lake Michigan and quickly turned on our heels to get dinner at Pizzeria Uno for a Chicago pizza pie. The crust of the pie was crisp and the filling was deep but oddly tasteless which was odd with the restaurant being the home of the Chicago style pizza.

On Sunday we went past downtown to the Science and Industry museum and had fun watching a immersive film on cycling physiology, going down a coal mine, seeing a U-boat, planes, model railway and lots of fun stuff. We wrapped up the day by watching the superbowl in the hotel bar before heading back to our room to pack our bags yet again.

Snowmaggedon

Not sure on the state of the roads to Squaw Valley we decided to book the free shuttle which meant an early start on Thursday, but at least the coach picked us up from the front of the apartment and it meant we could let somebody else take over the driving responsibilities.  The downsides of the ride were the thirty plus minutes picking up people from various casinos just over the border in Nevada and the two people that talked incessantly.

As soon as we arrived Helen and I grabbed our boards and grabbed a much needed coffee whilst the queue for lift tickets died down.  Although the lift ticket we had bought on Tuesday was meant to be for two consecutive days only the staff extended our ticket without any fuss.  Having explored most of the right hand side of the resort on the Wednesday we decided to hit up the runs on the left hand side including the Olympic Downhill which was challenging if only because of the flat light and big lumps of snow.  As they day progressed the clouds came down, it started to snow and then the wind really picked up so Helen and I retreated to the restaurant for huge bowls of thai food.

Sitting over lunch we used our knowledge of the resort and general mountain knowledge to decide that we would ride in the right hand bowls that afternoon.  The bowls were not only sheltered form the ferocious wind but the loose snow was being blown into nice floaty pockets so the only drawback wass being battered in the face by the gale force winds as the return lift breasted the ridge (check out the picture showing the spindrift streaming of the peak).  Our favourite bowl was effectively closed when the lift had to shut due to the wind so we moved to our backup area until we had to head down the mountain.  The lsat run down the mountain was quite challenging as the wind was against us making running on the flat very slow, a lot of the ridges had been scoured down to ice and on top of that the wind occasionally blasted stinging snow into our faces making it difficult to see.  Tired and cold we boarded the shuttle back to South Tahoe and this time only had to listen one of the two people whitter inanely on; Helen managed to fall asleep for a while but unfortunately I could not.

Back in the apartment we started packing and planning for the trip home.  We had been aware since Wednesday that a big snowstorm was due to hit the DC area and couse massive disruption and that Tahoe would get more snow.  The first part of the plan was to have an early start to give us plenty of time for the journey to Reno airport and check the weather and road advisories (sorry) in the morning.  As we expected the road out of South Tahoe had been designated as snow chains required, but not mandatory, so we drove steadily over the mountains and dropped down to the warmer weather.  At check in, again as expected, the leg of the flight from Chicago to Reagan National had been cancelled.  The bad news was that there were no flights into the DC area until Monday so we decided it would be preferable to fliy to Chicago and spend the weekend there rather than in Reno and catch the first flight out on Monday morning.  So, here we are sat in the departure lounge at Reno airport booking hotels and deciding what we will do at the weekend apart from watching the Six Nations and our last Superbowl

If you go down to the woods today

On Sunday we went to a timeshare presentation and it was interesting observing all their sales techniques but even better when we picked up our reward at the end.  Unfortunately our plan to ride at Northstar in the afternoon was scuppered by lack of space in the parking lot so we enjoyed the scenic drive back to South Lake Tahoe and then out to Camp Richardson for some cross country skiing.  Yes do read that correctly, cross country skiing!  Luckily we only had an hour so the injuries due to the severe lack of control were kept to a minimum.

We managed to get ourselves sorted out on Tuesday and after a few diversions made it to Squaw Valley which for us was very enjoyable due to the lack of flat traverses.  It did take a change in mindset to get used to such an open resort with very few named runs but we lived it up riding down steep runs, well groomed runs and through the trees.  As we drove home around the lake we saw the clouds coming in and the snow started falling.

On Wednesday we woke to a slightly snowy day but the roads we needed to go along to get back to Squaw Valley were closed to cars without chains.  We tried to drive round the lake but even though the ploughed and gritted roads were fine, we reached a point where they had just stopped and an icy snowy windy road suddenly did not seem like such a good idea.  To show how bad it was it took a good ten minutes to turn the car around and head back up the road.  After considering our options we drove to the west side of Heavenly and spent the afternoon on a couple of runs and running through the woods from one run to another.